Right Time and Place?
by theroseofhighgarden
Summary: Sabrina and her family find themselves at Hogwarts with no reason or explanation. How will they cope with wizarding school during the 70s and the people they meet? (This was really just brought on by my need to sort the Spellman family into houses and that's it, ngl)


"What the heaven?" Sabrina croaked as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. He back was in agony and felt like she'd been through a tumble-dryer. She heard a groan to her right. Looking over she saw what appeared to be Ambrose shifting in the darkness. Sabrina looked up at the dark starless sky. _Great, at least we know it's night-time _she thought to herself.

"Ambrose are you alright?" she called out to him. A non-committal grunt was his answer. _Well, at least he's alive._ "Where are the aunties?"

"Over here dear!" she heard Hilda chirp from somewhere in the gloom. Was it just Sabrina or did she sound slightly different? "Zelda is just waking up now. Zelds..?."

Perched on her elbows, Sabrina had look at their surroundings. It looked like they were in a courtyard. A very old courtyard. Then she looked up.

_A castle? A freaking castle, are you kidding me, how did we end up here? _

She saw movement in the corner of her eye as Ambrose pushed himself to his feet, making his way over to the aunties. Sabrina did the same, yet once on her feet she stopped dead after catching sight of Hilda.

"Auntie…"

"What, darling? What is it?" her voice rose higher as she turned to Ambrose who was now staring at her in shock "Why are you both looking at me like that?"

"Auntie you are-" Ambrose began before Sabrina cut him off.

"Young. You've de-aged or something." She shook her head "This is so…weird."

Hilda's now teenage face was somewhat in shock and she assessed herself as best as she could, with her now youthful body taking her completely off-guard.

"I was wondering why the pain in my feet had gone." She mused to herself before looking at her nephew and niece. "Do you think this means-?"

She had barely finished her sentence when Zelda began to wake up, stirring slightly, her hair falling from her face. The conscious trio gasped slightly. Zelda, too, was as her younger self.

"Now thinking about it," Sabrina turned to Ambrose "you look more like a teenager too, though I didn't notice it before."

"Well, dear Cousin, I'm glad that my superior skincare routine makes me look like a child." Ambrose quipped back. Sabrina allowed herself to smirk at his reply.

"Zelds! You're awake. That's it, love, just sit up, and don't be alarmed." Hilda was now crouched next to Zelda's now fully conscious, albeit youthful self.

"I must be dreaming, Hildy. You look like a girl again." Zelda squinted at her sister.

"Okay, well here's the thing, Zelds. It looks like, and well I'm not an expert, that we've been transported maybe back in time? We all seem to be that same physical age too, which I really don't have an explanation for."

Sabrina began to look around the courtyard properly. "We also are, for some bizarre reason, in a Castle."

The other three looked at the youngest Spellman, before finally assessing their surroundings wide-eyed.

"What in Lucifer's name is going on?" Zelda asserted before finally getting to her feet, annoyance and confusion emanating from her, though Sabrina had to bite back a laugh at Zelda; her teenage state rendering her usually formidable anger to appear less so frightening.

From the far side of the courtyard there was a scraping noise. All four Spellmans quickly turned to see a stern-looking woman in a tartan dressing-gown emerge into the moonlit space, the clouds now dissipated along with the ominous gloom.

"Merlin's beard, and who might you four be?" demanded a thick Scottish accent.

The woman looked over her glasses at them in a deadly serious manner and when receiving no answer, continued.

"I think an explanation is deserved here. Now, why are there four teenagers, who are certainly not students at this establishment as I do not recognise a single one of you, in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry courtyard at three in the morning, and why haven't they given any justification for this trespass." The woman was growing more irritated by the second, and Sabrina was out of ideas. As she was about to come up with some excuse, Zelda interrupted her.

"We are transfer students." The others looked at her in shock, before Sabrina nodded.

"Yep, we've come over from America to learn at Hopwards."

"Hogwarts." The woman corrected her.

"Yeah, that." Sabrina replied, looked over at a determined looking Zelda. _Good move, Auntie, _she thought to herself. _If this school has witches, we might be able to find something to explain how the heaven we got here._

"I have not been informed of any students transferring this year. Especially none from the States." This woman wasn't going to be swayed easily and Zelda could tell.

"It was a last-minute thing, that's why we're here at this hour. Our parents had an agreement with your Principal." Zelda provided. The other three were now desperately looking at the witch, begging her to stop digging them a hole they weren't certain they could get out of.

"Dumbledore?" the woman raised an eyebrow "Well, then. I do not wish to wake the headmaster until I need to. Until then I'll place you all in a spare classroom 'til morning. Follow me."

The woman swiftly turned, lighting what looked like a wand, and made her way back into the Castle, not waiting to see if the four were following her.

"My name is Professor McGonagall," the stern woman told them as she walked, not looking back "I teach Transfiguration and I am head of Gryffindor house."

"My name is Zelda Spellman," the eldest Auntie piped up, "and these are my siblings; Hilda, Ambrose and Sabrina." The professor glanced back in order to match names to faces, nodding briefly afterwards.

"Lovely to meet you all, despite the strange circumstances." She stopped by a door along the corridor they were now on, pushing it open and letting the four Spellmans enter the classroom. "I will transfigure the tables and chairs into beds for you all and I'll be along in the morning to take you to see the headmaster."

McGonagall waved her wand and the furniture replaced itself with four single beds that looked rather comfy for something that was a desk set seconds beforehand. She waved her hand again and a large plateful of sandwiches appeared on the front desk, along with four neatly folded piles of clothes.

"Some food for you in case you're peckish and pyjamas for you all." The four expressed their gratitude which McGonagall waved off. "If you are who you say you are, I will not deny future students their comfort. However, until we can confirm your identity you are not to leave this room and trust my word that I will know if you start wandering the castle."

After a stern look at them all, she bid them all good-night and strode out of the room, closing the door behind her. All four Spellmans collectively let out a breath, allowing their current predicament to wash over them.

Ambrose was the first to speak. "A magic school?"

"And back in England it seems," added Hilda "Though I've never heard of 'Hogwarts'."

"Terrible name if you ask me," Zelda sniffed, picking up the closest pile of pyjamas "now get to sleep all of you, we have a big day tomorrow."

"Zelda wait," Sabrina was annoyed now; she was being told to go to bed when they had so much to plan and talk about "what's the plan here? Just hope the headmaster takes us in and goes with your story? Also, the witches here seem to use wands, how are we going to explain that we don't have any? And how the heaven are we going to get home if we're stuck in a school half-way across the world?"

By the end of her little speech the youngest Spellman was flushed and glaring at her aunt-turned-teenager.

Ambrose piped up quietly from behind his cousin. "She's right auntie, you haven't told us anything of what you have planned."

Sabrina gestured to Ambrose as if to say _see, it's not just me,_ whilst Zelda looked positively furious. Yet, biting down on her anger at her niece lashing out at her, she caved.

"I have not thought of a fully-fledged plan as yet. However," she caught the others before they began to panic "I was intending on telling this headmaster the truth."

"What?" burst Sabrina, whilst Ambrose swore softly and began to pace nervously. Hilda remained silent, just wringing her hands. Zelda silenced her family, raising her hands.

"Look, Sabrina. We are in the unknown. We don't know where exactly we are, or even when we are. We don't know how this situation occurred, last thing I remember was that we all went to bed after supper, so unless this is all a dream, I have absolutely no ideas on how we have arrived in such a place. The best way to understand what has happened is to talk to the most senior person in this institution and tell the truth, and that appears to be this Dumbledore man." Sabrina nodded in defeat, and Zelda continued.

"Look I know we're all scared, but if we find an ally in this man then perhaps, we can get home. It is lucky at least that we've landed in the laps of other magical beings, though I must admit I doubt they worship the Dark Lord as we do. Please trust me," she implored to her family, "I've assessed the situation, and this is the best course of action that I can think of. So, Spellmans, get some rest and either we wake up and this truly was all a dream, or we will get to work getting some proper answers."

The other three nodded before getting ready for bed in sombre silence. After saying goodnight to each other, they all fell into an uneasy sleep, the type of sleep that comes when you're in an unknown castle in what appears to be Scotland surrounded by witches you don't know or trust. You know…that kind of sleep.

Morning came; however, the Spellman family had been awake for hours before McGonagall's knock on the classroom door. The four had been plotting their course of action for the day, and what they would tell the headmaster of this Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The plan depended on Dumbledore being an ally to the four, and the level of respect that the Professor showed to him last night showed that he was either very intimidating or kind and well-respected; or perhaps a bit of both. They would tell the wizard the true story of their predicament; they are a family of witches from America and woke up to find themselves in the school grounds with no recollection of how or why, and simply want to return home and to their correct ages. Zelda insisted that she was uneasy in placing all their hopes on this man, but she also pressed that they had no other choice, and if these witches were anything similar to their own kind, he would easily know they were lying.

McGonagall entered the room to see them all dressed and ready, with the 'beds' made. Nodding her approval, she beckoned them to follow her. The small group made their way through the castle. With it being daytime, the four could now take in their new environment far better. The stone walls of the castle were littered with portraits and paintings, taking the Spellmans by surprise by the fact they _moved_. Ambrose was in complete awe and wanted so badly to stop and study them, but McGonagall's pace denied him the opportunity. After going up various sets of _moving staircases,_ at which Sabrina muttered that she wished the academy had moving stairs, they arrived at a massive stone gargoyle.

"Mars bar" clearly stated McGonagall, leaving all the Spellmans confused until Ambrose's small gasp of "secret password" as the gargoyle began to move, revealing a small set of stairs.

The professor turned to the teens. "The headmaster is expecting you; he will let me know when he is finished talking to you and where you are to go depending on how the conversation goes. Now, up you go."

Feeling a slight sense of dread, Zelda led them all up the stairs, stopping when she reached the door. After looking concernedly at each other, Sabrina went to knock before a voice came from inside.

"Come in" it called.

After a deep breath, Zelda entered first, the other three in tow.

The Spellmans entered the headmaster's office and were immediately drawn to the phantasmagoria of items that littered the space, with trinkets and devices across all the surfaces and bookshelves, and portraits covering the walls. Papers and books were stacked near the shelves that were full to bursting, with light streaming in from high windows and even from the ceiling. Sabrina turned to her cousin and could see Ambrose was itching to explore the room. In the middle of the room, at a desk piled with papers and even more trinkets, was a middle-aged looking man, with a short-cropped orange greying beard, peering at the family with piercing yet amused eyes over his half-moon glasses. He pushed himself up out of his chair, smiling at them all. Sabrina immediately felt her aunt's plan was a good one after seeing the kindness of this man; obviously a powerful man, even she could sense his magical aura, but he definitely meant them no harm.

"Ah, yes, the Spellmans is it? Come in, come in. I must say, fantastic name, yes, fantastic." He muttered, gesturing them towards his desk, flicking his hand and making two more chairs appear next to the pair already opposite him.

The four took turns in shaking his hand, introducing themselves and taking a seat.

"Pleasure to meet you all. Now, Minerva told me you are all transferring to Hogwarts for this school year. However, she is concerned about the lack of evidence we have to support this claim." His eyes glittered with amusement as he assessed their reactions, with Hilda looking a little sheepish while Sabrina and Ambrose looked to the steadfast Zelda. The eldest spoke up.

"Professor Dumbledore, you will have already guessed that we are not transfer students, though we are most certainly from America. We woke up in your courtyard last night with no recollection of how we got there or when. Last we all remember is going to sleep in the evening then waking up here, feeling beaten up. Hilda and I," Hilda did a little wave to the headmaster, who nodded to her smiling "are actually aunts to these two, having for some reason or another devolved back into teenagers the same age as my niece, Sabrina." She gestured to the youngest.

"Yes, and now we have no idea where or when we are, and we could really use your help, Sir, to get us back home." Sabrina overtook her aunt in desperation, the slow pace of this conversation rendering her impatient, choosing instead to implore to the man they were putting all their trust in.

Dumbledore leaned back into his chair, assessing the family and laid his hands over his chest.

"A family of witches from America you say. Did you not go to wizarding school in America? How do you not know of Hogwarts?" he raised an eyebrow.

"We're part of a smaller…coven you see," Ambrose spoke this time, "we were taught with that group, though I did go to non-magical school at Oxford for a time."

"Ah, I see," the older man nodded "I appreciate you all being honest with me. Now for what to do with you all." He stood and began to pace.

"Let's start with the basics, eh," he turned back to them "from the fashion you are wearing, I'm presuming when I tell you the date is January the 11th 1976, you are all going to be rather supri- ah yes, it seems you are."

The whole family had blanched, with two or three jaw drops following a collective gasp.

"Time and place travel, how the heaven has this happened?" Hilda whispered to herself.

"We've come from the year 2019, how is this possible, I don't understand." Sabrina's brow had furrowed severely.

Dumbledore sat himself back down, before addressing the group of silently panicking witches and warlock. "Now is not the time for fear, I trust that we will find a solution, and I will be sure to help you all and use my influence as best as I can." the silent promise behind his words instilled trust within the Spellmans "Until then, I will enrol you all as students to provide you all cover. The Spring term starts tomorrow, thankfully your arrival went unnoticed by those who stayed for the Christmas holidays so you can be introduced to the school properly." The group didn't feel that was as great a prospect as Dumbledore was making it out to be; a group of Americans, even ones that sounded British, was going to draw more attention than desired.

"Also," continued the headmaster "our school system is such that we have four houses that our students are distributed amongst depending on their strengths and personalities."

"That sounds like a dangerous idea." Muttered Sabrina to herself, reddening slightly when Dumbledore looked at her in amusement.

"It would be beneficial for your assimilation into school life for you all to be sorted into respective houses so you can settle in properly and not worry the other students," the Professor stood and picked up a decrepit looking hat from the top of one of the book shelves, "this will decide which houses you shall be in."

Zelda looked disgusted at the prospect of putting the thing on her head "Why can't we all be in the same house; would it not make life a lot simpler?"

"Ah, but if you are to be students, rules are rules, and rules state you are to be sorted." Dumbledore replied with a twinkle in his eye. The eldest Spellman sighed and took the hat from the Professor. Sabrina had a feeling the man was only pursuing his sorting endeavour purely out of curiosity rather than necessity, but she didn't want to question it due to the kindness he was showing them all.

Sabrina watched as the hat came to life, startling the group. It muttered for a while, with Zelda looking worried the whole time, before it blurted out: "Slytherin!"

Dumbledore hummed and nodded, though Sabrina saw a slight shift and look of concern on his face before he told Hilda to put the hat on next. The hat assigned Hilda to a house called 'Hufflepuff', and Ambrose to 'Ravenclaw' before it was Sabrina's turn next. She gingerly took the hat and placed it on her head, the weirdest sensation of someone looking into her mind following.

_Hello there, Sabrina, strange little family you are aren't you. I must admit I'm irritated that I've been called upon early to do some sorting. _Sabrina jumped at the voice, _it can talk_, she thought incredulously. The hat laughed back.

_Ah yes, I see courage in you dear, and sheer determination. You are not one to be told 'no' are you. There's something else in you, an ambition for power... __There's a power in you that you are not yet aware of, ho ho this could be interesting...__you could do well in Slytherin…hmm yes you could. Though your recklessness wouldn't do…no not at all…better be…_

"Gryffindor!" the hat sang out, at which Dumbledore positively beamed.

"Fascinating, a whole family across all four houses. Truly fascinating." He took the hat back off Sabrina and placed it back on the shelf. "Now, I'll call the heads of houses to introduce each of you to your new houses and thus your new families. Neither the students or teachers will know of your true identities, other than myself and Professor McGonagall, who I wholeheartedly trust, and I will continue the original explanation of your presence being that of transfer students."

"Excuse me, sir." Ambrose spoke up "I am concerned that we don't own wands. Our nature of magic is all incantation-based and while verbal, we do not channel it through wands. I'm afraid this might confuse our peers."

"Yes, you are quite right Master Spellman," he stood quickly "follow me students, we are going to do a quick spot of wand shopping. This should be fun!" He made his way over to a fireplace on the far side of the office. Beckoning them over, he grasped a handful of powder in a dish to the left-side of the fireplace and throwing it into the fire, turning the flames green.

"This method of travel is such that you stand in the flames and throw this powder whilst speaking clearly your destination. Now don't look at me like that, it's perfectly safe." He winked at the four looks of confusion he was receiving. "Who's first?" Sabrina stepped forward, her curiosity outweighing reason.

"Fabulous, now our destination is 'Olivander's'. Repeat it for me…" Sabrina repeated the same and Dumbledore was satisfied "Perfect. Now stand in the fireplace, state the name then throw the powder. We'll be there after you soon." He gave her an encouraging grin before holding the plate of dust out to her. Sabrina glanced to her aunties and cousin, with Zelda giving her a confident nod, Hilda a concerned look and Ambrose looking baffled yet intrigued.

Sabrina grabbed a handful of the powder before following the headmaster's instructions, stepping into the flames. The flames flickered around her legs, not hot and scalding but warm and comforting.

"Olivander's" she stated clearly, throwing down the powder, causing the flames to leap up and consume her. She was shoved into a whirl of movement, seeing various fireplaces hurry past her. Eventually, she landed, rolling out of an unknown fireplace covered in soot and coughing. Soon after Hilda appeared landing much the same as Sabrina.

"You alright darling?" Hilda asked inspecting Sabrina.

"Yep, all good auntie." Sabrina smiled back, her excitement now overriding her fear of their whole situation. Both Ambrose and Zelda had now appeared, spluttering and swearing, until Dumbledore finally landed gracefully after all the Spellman's.

"Garrick?" He called out into the shop.

The group finally had a chance to look about themselves. They were apparently in a large shop, filled with large stacks of drawers, the whole space lined with them, with tiny corridors of space between them. Dumbledore called out again and there was a sudden movement and a crack as a ladder slid across to the end of a stack, with a tall, thin scruffy-haired man appearing on it. His face lit up at the sight of the headmaster.

"Albus! So good to see you old friend! How are you, and who are these young fellows?" He climbed down from the ladder to greet his visitors properly.

"I'm fairing well Garrick, as I hope you are too. These are students from America, however, their nature of magical practice has evolved with out the use of wands." The man, Garrick sighed at this revelation. Sabrina was surprised how dependent these warlocks were on wands.

"What a shame, so I suppose you are wanting them to be wand-equipped for Hogwarts?"

"Yes, please, if that is not a bother. I will make up for expenses." Waving down noises of concerns at this reality from Hilda and Zelda, with Zelda looking particularly unhappy at the prospect of being even more indebted to this man.

"Of course it is not a bother, don't be silly," Olivander turned to Hilda, "should we start with you, dear?" Hilda, wide-eyed, nodded slowly.

Sabrina watched as the man rushed around the shop, pulling open draws and muttering to himself, bringing a pile of boxes to the large table at the front of the shop. The process of wand choosing, Olivander told the group, was that the wand chose the witch or wizard rather than the other way around, and so, it might take some time to find a wand that agreed to its master. It was a fascinating, if not dangerous, ritual. He told Hilda to pick up each wand in turn and try to use it, with the action resulting in a chaotic mess every time. Eventually, each Spellman had found a wand that had chosen them; Sabrina was surprised the shop hadn't been destroyed in the process.

Hilda's wand was one made of Cedar wood with a Unicorn hair core, Zelda an Aspen with a dragon heartstring core, and Ambrose's was Yew, also containing dragon. Sabrina's own wand turned out to be one made of Cypress and was heavier than she expected, containing a Phoenix feather core, something that Mr Olivander was rather excited about when the wand finally chose her.

The group thanked the wand maker and returned by fireplace (Dumbledore called it 'floo' travel) to the castle. Exhausted by their morning and new reality, each Spellman was designated to their particular house and housemaster to learn about their new 'family', as Dumbledore put it, which was why Sabrina was now faced with the stern expression of Professor McGonagall and waving goodbye to the rest of her family as they followed their own housemasters.

"Well then, let's show you to the Gryffindor common room, Miss Spellman."

* * *

_A.N._

_I'm not even bothered by how badly written this is, I just wanted to get this idea out and its a bit of fun. As I said, this was born out of my need to sort all the Spellmans into each house as I think it's funny how well they each fit the traits for all of them. Anyway, hope you had fun reading it like I did writing it!_


End file.
